Rescue Ink's Joe Panz
Stereotypes about animal rescue volunteers abound: “crazy” cat ladies, overzealous rescue groups who won’t place an animal in a home unless it’s the Taj Mahal, tired and often-bitter people who have spent 20 years working with the dregs of humanity — people who abuse and neglect their animals.
But the folks at Rescue Ink are in a whole different category of rescue volunteers: badass bikers who don’t take animal abuse lightly. Named because the members of their group have tats galore, Rescue Ink’s mission statement says it all:
“THIS AIN’T YOUR MOTHER’S RESCUE GROUP! You’ve never met a rescue group like Rescue Ink™ — an army of tattooed, motorcycle-riding street guys who have zero tolerance for animal abuse and neglect. We think abusers are losers, and we have no problem ‘educating’ them about the error of their ways. Hey, we’re no angels, and we’ve made plenty of mistakes in our lives, but we’ve been given a second chance. And we think neglected and abused animals deserve one, too.”
Although their focus is on rescuing, rehabilitating and adopting out bully breeds, who they feel have gotten a bad rap, Rescue Ink has also helped other breeds and species, including cats, chickens, horses and fluffy little white dogs.
In addition to rescuing abused and neglected animals, the group’s efforts include hosting adoption events, appearing on national media outlets — including a short-lived but excellent TV show on National Geographic — visiting schools to educate young people about animal welfare, creating and selling products to fund their rescue efforts and their newest project, a comic book.
Rescue Ink: Badass tattooed bikers fighting animal abuse
One of Rescue Ink’s most interesting programs is their fight against domestic abuse:
A correlation between animal abuse and domestic violence abuse has been recognized. Abused animals serve as a warning that future abuse in the home may occur. In fact, many women stay in abusive situations for fear their pets will be abused if they leave their beloved pet behind. Rescue Ink is partnering with organizations to provide foster homes for victims of domestic abuse. The animals will be well cared for until the individual is able to be reunited with their animal companion.
Could these guys be any cooler? I think not. I have to admit that I have a little crush on them; oddly, so does my husband. If we lived in New York, we’d buy hogs and get a few tattoos just so we could hang with these guys and fight animal abuse.
